Midland Man Believed to Have Drowned at Lake O.H. Ivie

2012-04-19T18:22:17Z2012-04-20T03:32:17Z

Staff ReportNewsWest 9

A Midland man is believed to have drowned at the Lake O.H. Ivie Reservoir.

Family members tell NewsWest 9, the man who may have drowned is 77-year-old Richard Stovall. Stovall owns Stovall's Scuba and Travel, which he operates out of his home. Family members also said that Stovall had over 40 years of diving experience.

According to Deputies, the man was working on getting soil samples around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. After an hour, workers that were with the man called 911 when he didn't resurface.

Deputies, EMS, a dive team comprised of San Angelo PD and Coke County Deputies as well as Texas Parks and Wildlife all responded.

Around 9 p.m. Wednesday night, diver operations were suspended and a specialized dive team was called in to search the lower structure of the pump station near where the man went down.

Low visibility and safety prevented the dive team from continuing their search.

It is believed he may have gone down a 350 foot eight foot wide pipe.

A special dive team from Houston is on scene and began searching for Stovall but have since called off the search and resume on Friday morning.